December 14, 1998

Station Left Alone After a Fond Adieu

By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

PACE CENTER, Houston -- After successfully joining
and outfitting the first two pieces of
the international space station, the
astronauts aboard the shuttle Endeavour set the seven-story complex
loose Sunday and then flew away.

They were sorry to go.

"Wish we could stay longer," said
Col. Robert D. Cabana, the shuttle
commander, "but we'll get safely
away and leave it for somebody else
to come back and add more to it."

It will be spring before the next
construction crew arrives.

With the flick of a switch that
released the snares holding it to the
77-foot, 70,000-pound station, Endeavour, with Maj. Frederick W.
Sturckow, as pilot at the controls,
detached itself and slowly backed
away.

Flight controllers in Houston and
Moscow monitored the 245-mile-high
action. The undocking, which was
similar to those that separated space
shuttles from the Mir space station,
occurred over Russian ground stations.

The winged, cylindrical station
glistened in the sunlight as the shuttle circled from a distance of 450 feet
for a final photo survey. Once that
was finished, Major Sturckow fired
Endeavour's thrusters, and the shuttle pulled away for good.

The astronauts could still see the
station from more than eight miles
out and excitedly beamed down pictures.

"It's the brightest new star on the
horizon," Colonel Cabana said as the
station grew smaller and smaller, its
two components resembling the head
and body of a snowman lying on its
side.

After Endeavour's flawless departure, NASA's lead flight director,
Bob Castle, declared the assembly
portion of the 12-day mission a success.

"I'm very, very, very gratified,"
Castle said.

The undocking ended an intense
week for Endeavour's six astronauts, who are scheduled to be back
on Earth late Tuesday.

They captured Zarya, the Russian-built control module, and stacked it
on the American-made Unity chamber in the shuttle cargo bay on Dec. 6.
Then they took three space walks to
wire the components together, install
and fix antennas, and attach a tool
box to the outside. They also spent a
full day inside the station, sprucing it
up for the first permanent crew,
which is due to arrive in just over a
year.